2024 Royal Gold Medal to Lesley Lokko
John Hill
18. January 2024
Photo © Murdo Macleod
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has named Lesley Lokko the 2024 recipient of the Royal Gold Medal, given annually “to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture.”
RIBA President Muyiwa Oki, in a film on the Royal Gold Medal (embedded at bottom), says that Lesley Lokko is being given the honor for her “groundbreaking work as an educator, a curator, and an author.” This week's announcement of comes two months after the closing of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, which Lokko curated under the theme “The Laboratory of the Future,” focusing the international exhibition, for the first time, on Africa and the African diaspora, and addressing decolonization and decarbonization in the process. Three years ago, Lokko founded the African Futures Institute (AFI) in Accra, Ghana, which aims “to be a new model of education, research and public dialogue that unites the arts, humanities and sciences,” per RIBA. Before AFI, she was also founder and director of the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg and briefly served as dean of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York. In terms of the third body of work, as an author, Lokko has written numerous books and articles, ranging from scholarly texts to novels.
ACE/AAP by Olalekan Jeyifous at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale (Photo: Flavia Rossi)
“A fierce champion of equity and inclusion in all aspects of life, Lesley Lokko’s progressive approach to architecture education offers hope for the future – a profession that welcomes those from all walks of life, considers the needs of our environment, and acknowledges a broad range of cultures and perspectives. A visionary agent of change, Lesley has dedicated her life to championing these values, not only through academic endeavors, but through her work as an author and curator. She remains a humble revolutionary force, with her ambition and optimism etching an indelible mark on the global architectural stage.”
Biennale director Lesley Lokko with, left to right, John Hill, Charles Ganz, and Renato Turri from World-Architects (Photo: Mariam Saleh/World-Architects)
“It came as such a surprise to me. This was never on the cards. I’m delighted to be considered alongside some of the great past winners of the Royal Gold Medal. Although this is a personal award, this isn’t merely a personal triumph, this is a testament to the people and organizations I have worked with that share my goals. I came into architecture seeking certainties, looking for answers. Instead, I found questions and possibilities, far richer, more curious, and more empathetic ways to interpret and shape the world. Architecture gave me language, in all its forms — visual, written, built, performed — and that language, in turn, has given me such hope.”
Lokko will receive the 2024 Royal Gold Medal at a ceremony in London on May 2, 2024.